Federer on song in Istanbul

Istanbul - Top-seeded Roger Federer overcame some sloppy serving to beat unseeded Daniel Gimeno-Traver of Spain 7-6 (3), 6-7 (5), 6-3 and reach the Istanbul Open semifinals on Friday.

Federer, who dropped his serve twice, missed seven chances to break Gimeno-Traver for a second time in the second set. But the Swiss star saved four breaks points on his opening service game of the deciding set.

The 17-time Grand Slam champion next faces eighth-seeded Diego Schwartzman of Argentina, who beat fourth-seeded Santiago Giraldo of Colombia 0-6, 6-2, 6-2.

Collated results from the ATP Istanbul Open on Friday (x denotes seeded player):

Quarter-finals

Diego Schwartzman (ARG x8) bt Santiago Giraldo (COL x4) 0-6, 6-2, 6-2

Roger Federer (SUI x1) bt Daniel Gimeno Traver (ESP) 7-6 (7/3), 6-7 (5/7), 6-3

Grigor Dimitrov (BUL x2) bt Ivan Dodig (CRO) 6-4, 6-3

Pablo Cuevas (URU) bt Thomaz Bellucci (BRA) 7-5, 6-3